Project description:Extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) is widely used to treat cutaneous T cell lymphoma, graft versus host disease and allografted organ rejection. Its clinical and experimental efficacy in both cancer immunotherapy and autoreactive disorders suggests a novel mechanism. This study reveals that ECP induces a high percentage of processed monocytes to enter the dendritic antigen presenting cell (DC) differentiation pathway, as determined by expression of relevant genes. The resulting DC are capable of processing and presentation of exogenous antigen and are largely maturationally synchronized, as assessed by the level of expression of co-stimulatory surface molecules. Principal component analysis of the ECP-induced monocyte transcriptome indicates that activation or suppression of more than 3500 genes produces a reproducible distinctive molecular signature. Pathway analysis suggests that DC maturation may be triggered by transient adherence of passaged monocytes to plasma proteins coating the ECP plastic ultraviolet exposure plate. Co-incubation with lymphocytes, simultaneously induced by ECP to undergo apoptosis, may accelerate conversion of monocytes to DC. The efficiency with which ECP induces new functional DC supports the possibility that these cells participate prominently in the clinical successes of the treatment. ECP may offer a practical source of DC for use in a spectrum of immunotherapeutic trials. We have used microarrays to analyze the expression of genes modulated by ECP treatment. Samples were obtained pre-treatment, after ECP on day 0 and after overnight incubation of the ECP product on 3 cutaneous T cell lymphoma patients, 3 graft-versus host disease patients and 6 normals.
Project description:Extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) is widely used to treat cutaneous T cell lymphoma, graft versus host disease and allografted organ rejection. Its clinical and experimental efficacy in both cancer immunotherapy and autoreactive disorders suggests a novel mechanism. This study reveals that ECP induces a high percentage of processed monocytes to enter the dendritic antigen presenting cell (DC) differentiation pathway, as determined by expression of relevant genes. The resulting DC are capable of processing and presentation of exogenous antigen and are largely maturationally synchronized, as assessed by the level of expression of co-stimulatory surface molecules. Principal component analysis of the ECP-induced monocyte transcriptome indicates that activation or suppression of more than 3500 genes produces a reproducible distinctive molecular signature. Pathway analysis suggests that DC maturation may be triggered by transient adherence of passaged monocytes to plasma proteins coating the ECP plastic ultraviolet exposure plate. Co-incubation with lymphocytes, simultaneously induced by ECP to undergo apoptosis, may accelerate conversion of monocytes to DC. The efficiency with which ECP induces new functional DC supports the possibility that these cells participate prominently in the clinical successes of the treatment. ECP may offer a practical source of DC for use in a spectrum of immunotherapeutic trials. We have used microarrays to analyze the expression of genes modulated by ECP treatment.
Project description:The generation of pancreatic organoids from human pluripotent stem cells represents a major breakthrough for regenerative medicine and the modeling of diseases such as diabetes. However, current approaches remain inefficient due to lengthy multi-step differentiation protocols and limited functional maturity in the organoids. In this study, we overcome these challenges using multi-phase optimization screens to achieve rapid generation of functionally mature pancreatic organoids from a stable endocrine progenitor culture. We conducted stepwise culture condition screens that enabled the stable culture of multiple pancreatic progenitor cell states, including the unprecedented stable propagation of NEUROD1-expressing endocrine progenitor-like cells (EpSCs). Further transcriptomic profiling of EpSC confirmed similarity of that to previously reported endocrine progenitor populations. Using EpSCs, we significantly reduced the number of steps and timing required to generate pancreatic organoids, enabling rapid testing of conditions for organoid maturation. Utilizing this optimized protocol, we further tested conditions to promote pancreatic organoid maturation. We identified that exosome-delivered WNT5B, in combination with RSPO1 (exoW/R), could strongly induce non-canonical WNT/JNK signaling, promoting pancreatic organoid maturation. This combinatorial exosome treatment enhances epithelial organization, reduces immature cell states, and significantly improves glucose responsiveness and insulin secretion. Collectively, our work establishes a robust pancreatic differentiation platform that integrates long-term progenitor expansion with optimized organoid maturation. This system provides a reproducible experimental framework for studying pancreatic development, investigating disease mechanisms, and facilitating future translational applications involving pancreatic organoids.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.